Flesh Realm
by Lehaus
Summary: She needed saving. And he was there. Tall, dark and dangerous. But not a hero, just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. Paul/Bella Imprint Fic.


**Disclaimer**_: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters therein. It is the sole property of Stephenie Meyer's which I am not, nor do I make profit in writing this fanfiction._

**Chapter warning:**_ Swearing, violence, attempted rape and character death. You've been warned. _

* * *

**Flesh Realm.**

**Chapter Begin:**

_"Cutting through the darkest night, are my two headlights._

_Trying to keep it clear but I'm losing it here, to the twilight._

_There's a dead-end to my left_

_A burning bush to my right."_

Bella sat with her back to the throng of inebriated, writhing, sweating bodies gyrating against one another on the dance floor, angrily sipping her cranberry and apple juice. The bartender looked at her oddly when she threw back the last of her drink like it was tequila, wiped her mouth and slammed her glass down with more vehemence then strictly necessary.

"Another." She demanded, stewing with self-disgust as she waited for her top-up.

Here she had uprooted her life, dropped her classes -_hell, she'd put her cat into boarding school!_- all so she could get to Forks and sort out the mess that awaited her in the form of her father's dead body lying in a morgue. Despite the fact that Charlie had let her mother dump Bella in foster care, he now expected her to plan his damned funeral? For not only him but his wife! A woman Bella had never even met?

And that wasn't even the punchline of this horrible pun.

The Bartender watched Bella with an amused grin, sliding her drink across the counter. Bella picked it up and downed its contents, eyes burning with tears.

Charlie was _dead._

His wife, Sue, was _dead_.

Charlie and Sue had_ died!_

And they had left behind two children, both under the legal age limit to live alone.

And they wanted -expected- _Bella_ to take over guardianship.

A measly two days after her twentieth birthday.

Wanted her to take in siblings she'd never met.

Twin siblings.

Bella choked back a sob and dropped her forehead to the counter, flatly ignoring the '_thunk'_ it made and the fact that it made her empty glass wobble.

"Another please." She mumbled from her face-down potion.

The glass slid away.

Bella should be in Forks by now. Her plane had touched down hours ago. However instead of getting her rent-a-car and driving to Forks like she was meant to. Like she had said she would.

Not only had she bailed on her court appearance, but she had yet to leave Seattle. She had ended up going from the airport, luggage pickup to the nearest place that was open. Which just so happened to be club.

_Where were all the supposed twenty-four seven diners that appeared so frequently in movies?_

The bartender was back once more, handing Bella her cran-apple across the counter. Mumbling her thanks, she picked up the drink and this time sipped it slowly.

Bella could feel herself being regarded with a careful look, however by the time she looked up the bartender was gone, moving away to take care of the many other patrons crowding the bar, trying to scream their orders over each other and the music.

Music that was pulsing and fast paced and honestly… really sort of grating on her nerves. Curious as to how long she'd actually managed to waste, Bella looked up from her drink, swiveled on her stool and searched the darkened room for a clock of some sort.

She didn't find one.

But she did almost fall from her seat when large, orange-tan fingers tapped her shoulder suddenly.

_Holy crow, sneaking up on people should be illegal!_

This was a situation Bella had hoped not to find herself in. However with no one to blame but herself, she hefted out a long-suffering sigh and turned slowly on the person trying to gain her attention.

Blue eyes, brown hair and a dimpled smile greeted her. Unimpressed, Bella lifted a question brow.

"Yes?" She asked simply.

The guys smile faltered somewhat. Her tone hadn't been exactly what you'd call friendly. And her voice wasn't the only thing rolling off waves of hostility.

"Hi, I'm Dave."

Dave thrust a hand at her. Bella stared at it, brows furrowed, till it went away.

"I was wondering if you wanted to dance." He elaborated when after several minutes Bella had done nothing but sip her drink and blink at him expectantly.

"I don't dance." Bella answered truthfully. This time it was Dave's turn to blink.

"This is an odd place to be if you don't dance. Why are you here?"

"Certainly not the music." She muttered into her juice as a song, more horrid then the last began to play.

"Well, maybe we can just… wiggle a bit." Dave tried to coax, proceeding to shake his ass like a can of paint. Bella's eyebrows marched up towards her hairline.

"I don't dance, wiggle, shimmy or jig. But thanks." Okay, so she'd been a little rude that time, but the guy was beginning to bug her. Regardless, Dave merely laughed, a high nasal sound that reminded Bella of a hyena and slid onto the stool next to hers.

Bella tensed.

"Very well. Can I at least buy you a drink?" He leaned towards her as he asked and Bella was suddenly drowning in a cloud of cheap cologne and sweat.

Um, _ew._

Bella opened her mouth to refuse _-and breath through her mouth-_ then realized that her drink was already gone.

Already regretting her decision, Bella nodded uncertainly.

"Okay."

Beaming at her reluctant acceptance, Dave's eyes slid to her empty glass.

"So, what is the ladies choice of poison? Let me guess, vodka? Gin and tonic—"

"Apple and cranberry juice." Bella cut in over him, completely deadpan.

His expression was hilarious.

"Juice?" He repeated.

Bell nodded.

Shrugging, Dave turned and hailed the bartender, ordering their drinks with what he probably thought was a charming smile. Bella just thought he looked like a piranha. She wisely kept this thought to herself however.

A foaming, urine yellow beer was passed to Dave a whole two minutes before Bella received her juice. Giving Bella a 'cheers' gesture, Dave started on his beer pulling it in between his lips in long pulls that polished it off before Bella had even started on her own. Figuring it only fair, she tipped her own glass and made short work of swallowing down its contents.

She ordered her next drink with a shot of vodka in it. She was going to need it.

Dave had started asking her questions so fast she barely had time to answer one before he ploughed onto another.

By the time Bella had finished her fourth vodka –_she'd started ordering straight shots about ten minutes into Dave's inquisition_- she was pretty sure Dave knew everything there was to know about her. Well, what she had been actually willing to reveal. A lot of questions she skirted craftily.

Now with everything she was willing to share with a complete stranger laid out on the table, Dave started spouting off random facts about himself that Bella found both bewildering and annoying.

"Hey um, you didn't happen to come here with company did you?" Dave's suddenly asked out of nowhere. Bella nearly choked on her drink.

"No. Why?" she croaked, still trying to cough up the last of the vodka that had taken a wrong turn and ended up in her lungs.

"I was just wondering. Some guy has been staring at me like I insulted his mother since I sat down. I thought it was coincidence at first, but he keeps looking this way." Dave explained, but continued to glare at something- or someone- behind Bella. Starting to feel the effects of the vodka, Bella asked without thinking.

"You didn't insult any elderly woman on her way over here, did you?"

Dave laughed, but his eyes never slid away from whoever it was that had captured his attention. Curious, Bella turned on her stool. And spotted the person Dave had obviously been talking about. There, across the dance floor, half concealed in shadows, was a man watching them intently. The guy was stout, overweight, with balding blond hair and unnerving eyes.

There was no way Bella had met_ that_ person. She'd know those creepy eyes anywhere. They made her skin crawl. Shuddering, she turned back to her drink and finished it off quickly. Dave stared at her shocked.

She feigned needing to pee and slid from her stool, fully intending to flee to the bathroom. It wasn't till she was on her feet and the world around her suddenly began a slow, sharp tilt to the left, that Bella realised she might have a bit too much to drink.

"I'm going to go dance, it was nice talking to you." Dave announced as Bella stood trying to get her bearings. Nodding dismissively yet politely, Bella waved him off, watched him melt away into the crowd, and then turned to make her way to the restroom, skirting the very edge of the dance floor. There was no way she wanted to get caught up in that tangled mess of failing limbs.

As usual, the line to use the stalls was long, but the row of sinks was relatively vacant. It helped that the entire wall as you entered was mirror, so all the touch-up and hair-fixers were all over there, preening at their pretty reflections. Stepping up to the taps, Bella braced a hand on the cool porcelain and turned the faucet on with the other. Because she never wore make-up, Bella had no qualms in splashing a little cold water on her flushed face. It was refreshing but it didn't steady the tilting and spinning Bella was experiencing. The harsh lights seemed to be making it worse actually.

She wasn't the only one to think so. A girl in pink stumbling into the bathroom, squinted around in the suddenly light, then turned a green colour, bolting for the nearest available stall. The girl's friends were close at heel. Six drunk girls trying to cram into a confined space meant for one. The sounds of retching filled the bathroom. A acidic smell of vomit leaking out and permeating the air.

Swallowing back her own impromptu wave of nausea, Bella all but ran from the bathroom, and unthinkingly, into the wall of flesh on the dance floor. She was caught instantly and just like a current, it dragged her deeper within the throng despite her best efforts to extract herself. Bella found herself sandwiched in by multiple people, her body no longer under her control. Her limbs were prised away from her body and twined around people she couldn't make out. Her body being dragged into a rhythm she had no chance of keeping up with, or escaping it seemed.

The world spun around her, orbs of light, colliding and blending with each other to create a spectral collage of colour. Lost in a whirlwind of movement, Bella felt herself falling into oblivion. Her mind clouding over, body heating up. Burning from in the inside out. As if someone had set fire to her nerves with a blowtorch. It dimly occurred to Bella that she was being passed around through the crowd like a pass-the-parcel. Her layers of clothing stripped away like each new layer of wrapping paper. Hand slid over her, finding flesh she was sure she covered. They gripped her, guiding her, pushing and pulling.

Her once bound hair toppled down her back and into her face, clouding her in a veil of strawberry scented mahogany curls. Careful hands carded through the thick waves of it. Bella caught a glimpse of gold, the smell of cherry-chap stick and base foundation before lips, soft and plump sealed over hers. Bella's continuous protests died as her mouth was invaded. Just as she was about to start thrashing like a wild animal, the hands in her hair and the mouth on hers was gone.

At least it had been a girl, because as terrifying as the situation currently was, she was less likely to be raped and left for dead by a girl.

A new set of lips, chapped slightly but lush, touched the skin just below her ear, whispering something Bella didn't catch. Alarmed, she fought against the fluff in her head. This was wrong. Her struggles merely delivered her into a new set of arms.

Something here was definitely amiss, but every time she tried to think her mind fuzzed and her stomach rolled. It was impossible to think while trapped in a tornado of faces and flesh and smells ranging from repugnant to the soft scent of leather, pine and mint. Dim lights flashing, Bella was floating on the sounds of indistinguishable speech and the constant thrumming base line of the techno music blaring.

Bella realised with a start that she had lost her outer rain coat in her haze, as well as the fleecy under jumper and vest and hands were now stripping away her baby blue cardigan leaving her in nothing but her white camisole which she'd been using more as a crop top to cover her bra. The lights flicked and her cami glowed, showing off more now than it covered.

Shame forced its way through the fog in her brain enough to leave her knowing that she what she should be doing was slapping away the hands peeling off her clothing. Should be shoving her way to should get the hell out of this club, get the hell out of Seattle, get on the first flight home to Arizonan and forget this whole ordeal. But the hands, though they grasped and groped, were all that was keeping Bella upright. She wasn't sure her legs were capable of supporting her anymore.

"That's it, just sway. Perfect. So perfect." Someone was panting against her throat, and though the pitch was husky, it was definitely a female. Bella didn't know if she should blush or scream her heterosexual preferences at the weird, handsey lady.

Then, through the haze, a voice she dimly recalled beckoned her.

"Hey? Are you alright? I thought you didn't dance."

Who…what…

Bella squinted.

Dave. It was Dave!

Unsure if she trusted herself to open her mouth and not vomit, Bella shook her head and moaned weakly, reaching out for him blindly. A hand that felt blissfully cool against her flushed skin brushed against her sweaty forehead, pushing back her mess of hair.

"You look awful! Let's get you out of here. You need fresh air."

Unable to do much else, Bella bobbled her head in agreement, letting Dave drag her thought the throng of people. Since he seemed to know where he was going, Bella wasn't going to put up a fight. She may be stubborn, but she wasn't stupid.

Suddenly the heat and the sound and flashing lights were gone and the cold slapped Bella hard, curling around her and clearing some of the fuzz in her head. She blinked, glassy eyes struggling to focus.

Outside. She was outside. The air was wet and cold and it helped ground her, if only a little. The world still spun like a tilt-a-whirl whenever she moved any part of her, eyes included, but here in the fresh air, Bella found she could think again.

"Thank you." She gasped out past her nausea.

Dave had her tugged up against him, holding the entirety of her weight.

"Jeez, what on earth happened in there?" He asked.

Bella shook her head and peeled open eyes she didn't know she'd closed.

"I don't know." She admitted openly, words slurring. Willing to try and stand on her own two legs, Bella reluctantly pulled herself away from Dave. When they started to wobble she quickly reached out to grab the brick wall she was already half leaning on. Smiling weakly, Bella sucked in several soothing, centering breaths and peered through her heavy lids.

They were in an ally outside of the club apparently. Which explained why they weren't soaked, despite the fact that Bella could hear the roar of rain. Or maybe that was just in her head. Swallowing down another mouthful of bile, Bella looked back to Dave, wanting to know if there was an exit back here. However the question died on her lips. Dave, who had been standing not a foot away, was now a good ten feet away. This meant Bella was having time lapses. And her companion was now swallowed in shadows.

Slightly creeped out, Bella slid her hands across the wall, fingers clutching the groves as she tried to wobble her way the short distance to the door of the club.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Dave laughed. Bella tilted her head and glanced at him wearily through a veil of her hair. He'd stepped out of the shadows with a grin on his face that was downright sinister. Bella's heart stuttered.

"Where you going?" He asked. Voice now low. Dangerous.

"My jacket is inside. I need to find it." She lied lamely.

Dave tilted his head and stepped forwards again, face now fully lit by the street light overhead. His expression was puzzled, worried. Wondering if it had been the shadows that made him suddenly seem so ominous, Bella faltered.

"Bella." Dave said softly. Bella turned fully, now facing him head on. She'd been about to take a tentative step towards him when he spoke.

"You're not going anywhere."

Another person stepped out of the shadows.

Bella's heart seized up in her chest. Just like that, the pieces fell into place.

She'd been played.

Cold unnerving eyes glittered at her like jagged glass. The man from inside. The one Dave had pointed out. The one he'd made her look at.

While he slipped something in her drink.

Dave's lips pulled back over his lips in a nasty smile as Bella ran over the nights events. Only now just realising.

Bella's heart sank to her toes as Dave's questions swam to mind.

'_Really? All alone. Wow.'_

Oh god.

'_What? No family? Isn't that dangerous?'_

What had she done?

'_Anyone waiting for you in Forks?'_

She'd messed up.

'_No one to miss you back home? That's a little sad.'_

She's really messed up.

Her stomach knotted, bile once again rising. She'd done this.

She'd made herself a perfect target. With her dismissive answers and caviler attitude.

And now she had nowhere to run. If she tried to run left, Dave would be on her. Right, and the other man would be there to block to path.

"Looks like you're trapped, girly." Dave crooned, advancing cockily.

Bella glared at him balefully. Outnumbered and barely able to stand on her own feet, she was well aware of her predicament. She hardly needed it rubbed in her face. She was about to become one of those girls you saw on tv. Missing and never found. Only she wouldn't end up on tv. Because she didn't have anyone to report her missing.

Short and tubby made a wide lunge for Bella. Biting down on a small scream of fright, she swung out with her duffle bag. The only thing she'd managed to keep during her trip through the crowd of lechers inside.

Bag-fu time! And Bella carried heavy hard cover books in hers.

Her duffle connected with dough-boy's cheek, knocking him off balance. He dropped to his knees holding his cheek and cursing. Trying to utilize the few seconds she'd earned, Bella wobbled unsteadily past him. Cooked-noodle legs quaking as she forced them to move. Propelling her towards the mouth of the ally. Back towards the backdoor into the club. Just as her hand touched the cold metal handle, a fist curled in her hair and yanked her backwards. She screamed. Pain flaring in her head. A hand instantly slapped across her mouth, drowning out the sound.

Bella fought with all the strength she could muster. Snarling, scratching, kicking and punching, her body writhing and thrashing, jerking and twisting.

"Bitch! That wasn't nice." Tubby growled against her ear as she slid an arm around her neck, choke-holding her as he wrestled them backwards. Dave was tucked away out of sight behind one of the dumpsters cluttering the cramped alleyway. Bella realised with a sickened jolt that he was casually waiting.

"You wanna lend a damned hand!" The one holding Bella snapped out tetchily, wrangling her towards Dave, wrenching her neck around till she was sure it would snap. Shrugging, Dave stepped away from the wall and strolled forwards, grabbing Bella's upper arms. Together, Dave and his fat friend, forced Bella to where they obviously wanted this to happen. A small space hidden from the light and wedged between the wall and dumpster.

Tubby was now behind Bella, her wrists caught in one of his beefy hands, while the other covered her mouth. Dave was at her front, trying to wedge his knee between her legs as he tore at her shirt, ripping it beyond further use. The second he saw her plain white, cotton bra he grinned nastily, palming her encased breasts once before hooking his fingers under the straps. He tugged sharply. Bella's body jerked with the force of it. The clasp broke and he pulled it from her with a delighted laugh, tossing the remains away.

"Bit on the small side isn't she?" Fatty asked flatly while Dave grabbed a hold of her nipples that had automatically reacted to the cold and pebbled. He pulled and twisted the small nubs. It hurt! But there was also some, sick twisted part of her that said no, it didn't. It felt good. The drug was now in full effect.

"Don't be stupid. Anything over a handful is a waste. Besides," Dave cradled one of her breasts, as if weighing it. "Smaller breasts are more sensitive I hear."

Repulsed, Bella gagged, cheeks burning with anger and shame, tears leaking down her face in salty lines.

These monsters were talking about her as she was nothing but a piece of meat. Just as Dave reached for the button of her jeans the clubs backdoor banged open loudly and two people toppled out, locked in a heated kiss. While Bella couldn't see much, she could make out enough to know that it was a couple. A male and female. Dave and his friend froze as the couple drifted closer. The girl, a leggy blond let out a simpering giggle as her male companion placed his drink on the lid of the dumpster then dropped his hands to the fly of his jeans.

Crinkling her nose in disgust, Bella guessed she had but a few seconds to gain their attention before they became otherwise 'engaged.' Knowing she would only have one shot at this, Bella sucked in a deep breath through her nose, thrust her head backwards, connecting with Tubby's nose and then the second his hands fell away she jammed a knee into Dave's groin.

"Help!" She let out the breath she'd taken in a frantic scream that hurt her throat. She barely managed to get the word out before Dave had recovered enough to grab her by the throat, squeezing till making any sound was impossible. It was too late though.

The couple were looking directly at were Bella and her attackers stood concealed.

"Did you hear that?" The pretty blond asked, her nasal voice carrying in the alley.

"It's probably nothing. Let's go back in. It stinks out here." Growled – there was simply no other words for it- the deepest voice Bella had ever heard, seconds before the two drifted back inside.

_No! Come back!_

Bella nearly cried in dismay,

The second they were gone, a fist connected with Bella's face with enough force send her toppling against the side of the bin with a startled cry. Her head throbbed, bouncing off the aluminum.

"Shit! Stupid cow nearly broke my nose." Complained short and fat.

"Yeah well she nearly fucking crushed my dick, so shut the hell up." Dave snarled, still cupping himself tenderly.

Unable to stand any longer, Bella clawed helplessly at the bin as she sank to her knees, bright star-bursts of colour dancing behind her eyelids in a kaleidoscope of dazzling colours. Groaning weakly, Bella hunched and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her gut heaving at the metallic smell of it.

She hated blood!

A hand curled roughly in her curls, using it as leverage to haul Bella back to her feet, eliciting a weak croak of protest from then she was lifted even higher. Held clean off her feet, fingers clawing at the hand in her hair with her breasts bared to the world, Bella realised that she was probably going to die. Her first sexual experience was going to be behind some crappy club, two days after her birthday and with a pair of rapists.

A sob bubbled past her bloodied lips the same second the club backdoor swung open once more. And this time, all three of them were in clear view. Bella could feel the world receding. Her body going numb as shock set in, and her mind shutting down, refusing to register what was about to happen.

"Forgot my beer." A husky rumble announced to no one in particular. Bella looked up through a film of hair, trying to get a proper glimpse of this person. When her eyes refused to open more than a slit, she gave up and instead attempted to lift her arms, wanting to cover her breasts.

No one moved for a solid ten seconds.

Then the new-comer reached for his drink, cocked it to his lips and then in a blur to fast to see, pitched the bottle. It hit fatty in the head with a wet thunk, then exploded in a rain of glittering green shards.

"Fuck!" Dave yelled as his companion dropped like a sack of potatoes and didn't move again. A dark pool was fast forming around his large body.

"Screw this shit! You want her? You can have her."

Bella was suddenly airborne. No one caught her. She landed hard, hands out in front of her to break her fall. Body screaming, head swimming, Bella let herself just lay here, dazed, listening to the rush of blood in her ears. And went the world started going black. She didn't fight it.

* * *

Paul's night so far had been a bust.

There had been a brief moment on the dance floor, when a girl that smelt sweet and clean had somehow ended up in his arms for a moment, however as suddenly as she appeared she was gone. Leaving Paul surrounded by girls he knew by body but not by name.

It felt like he'd already done everyone in the room worth doing. Figuring he'd call it a night, he headed for the exit, only to have the way blocked by long legs emphasized rather then covered by a barely there slinky black skirt and a glimmer of goldenrod. Shit. It was Lauren.

"Leaving already?" she purred, sliding through the crowd towards him. He'd had Lauren before. He'd had her everyway known to man, and a few ways that weren't. He found her boring. Most of her best assets had been created under the knife. Call him old-school, but when he grabbed a girls tits, he liked to know what he was fondling was flesh, not plastic. It didn't help that she had the personality of a wet rag and voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

Nevertheless, Paul found his interests piqued. Lauren was confident and assertive, always going after whatever it was that she wanted. From the type of car she drove to the boys she took to bed. Of which there were many. Paul could respect that. It was one of her few redeeming qualities. It also helped the girl could suck a golf ball through a garden hose. Which was good since everything below her waist was pretty much sloppy Joe standards. For tonight, in the absence of something better, Lauren would do for a quick pick me up.

"I was about to. Why, you got a reason for me to stay?" He asked, lifting a brow at her when she stepped forward and with a lick of her lips, lacing their fingers.

"I think I can come up with a reason or two. Follow me."

Paul let her pull him through the crowd and towards the backdoors, which were hidden by shadows.

However rather than open the doors, Lauren chose that moment to turn and break Paul's only fucking rule. She threw herself at him and sealed her lips over his like a fucking pressure hose. Paul fought down the urge to gag and grasped blindly for the doorhandle. When it gave he tried to push her away, but Lauren hooked her nails into his shoulders and they both ended up shuffling out of the club.

Lauren knew damned well that he didn't allow kisses and it pissed him off that she thought she was the exception to the rule.

She pulled back when he continued to stand unresponsive, and let out one of her annoying half-giggle things, beckoning him deeper into the darkened alley. Psh, like he was gonna turn around and leave after enduring her suck-face routine? _Hell no!_ He was getting what he had come for. He placed his beer on the lid of the dumpster then approached Lauren as he undid his pants. He'd barely gotten his zipper down when a gurgling scream pierced the night

"Help!"

Both he and Lauren turned to seek out the source of the voice. Paul did a quick survey of the alley then sucked in a big, deep breath through his nose. No good. He couldn't smell anything over the stink of garbage and Laurens eyewatering 'perfume.' Seriously. Shit was foul.

Fuck.

There could be a leech out here and he was stuck with a needy bimbo.

"Did you hear that?" Lauren asked, as if anyone could have_ not_ heard it. Rolling his eyes, Paul grabbed her by the arm.

"It's probably nothing. Let's go. It stinks out here."

Using the scream as an excuse, Lauren huddled herself against his front, peering up at him through false, tacky looking lashes that were clumped together with makeup. She allowed him to haul her ass back inside. Letting her go to step back against the door. Ears straining. He was able to pick up on a muffled cry and the thudding of something being tossed against the side of the bin outside. His concentration was blown to hell however when, clearly mistaking the situation at hand, the idiot blond spooned against him slid a hand down his front and gripped him through the denim of his jeans.

"You're soft." Lauren complained, earning a somewhat defensive grunt from Paul, who all but flung her hand away.

"What can I say, I guess 'easy' just isn't doing it for me tonight."

Hurt flashed over Laurens features, followed by fury. Curling her lip up in a nasty sneer, she hissed out 'homo' before storming off.

Normally Paul would have been pissed, but now, he honestly didn't give two shits. Bigger fish to fry.

Kicking the door open once more, Paul headed out into the darkness, determined to find out what the fuck was going on. He got as far as getting outside and found exactly what was happening. Dark eyes widened at the sight presented before him.

To be honest, the very first thing Paul actually spotted was the pair of softly rounded breasts, the colour of milk and tipped with tiny peaks of strawberry. Then he zoomed out and saw the whole picture. Two guys. One girl, face bruised, lip busted, clothing hanging off her in ragged strips.

It took everything he had not to phase.

Because seriously.

Sometimes, fucking leeches weren't the worst things he came across. He knew this was none of his business. This had nothing to fucking do with him. It was just human brutality. Nothing supernatural, meaning he had no grounds to act as a protector.

But fuck that shit!

Grabbing his beer, he let his eyes assess the situation carefully.

"Forgot my beer." He announced. Not sure why. Then tipped the bottle to his lips, sucked out the last drops of precious booze before whipping back his arm and hurling the bottle at the fat, short one standing behind the girl. The bottle hit its mark, getting scumbag number two right in the head.

Paul realised belatedly he'd probably just killed the guy. He didn't care. His attention landed on scumbag number one.

"Fuck!" The guy swore, looking at his fallen friend in open horror. Paul took a step and the guy panicked.

"Screw this shit! You want her? You can have her." And then the fucker proceeded to toss the girl like she weighed less than a dumbbell. His idea of escape clearly relied on Paul dashing forwards to catch the girl.

A wrong assumption.

Paul ignored her and went straight for the rapist as he tried to frantically backtrack. Paul had him by the back of the shirt before the guy made it three steps.

Blue-eyes opened his mouth to scream, or maybe say something. Either way Paul wasn't having any of it. He spun the guy and mashed him face first into the nearest wall. The guy's nose made a horrible squelching that delighted Paul more than it should have. The scumbag screamed like a little girl.

Disgusted, Paul spun the guy, pinned him against the wall with his left hand and then swung with his right. The scumbags head snapped to the side, blood spurting from his mouth in a wide arch of red, and even a few teeth coming lose.

The guy dropped the second Paul took his hand away, sobbing loudly.

"Who are you!" the scumbag demanded, bloody and reeling.

"I'm the big bad wolf." Paul replied simply.

And then he knocked the guy out.

Scumbag number two let out a soft groan behind him. Paul tensed reflexively, then relaxed because _hey!_ he hadn't killed someone. Which was good.

Only no.

Not really. His wolf howled to tear these two sickos limb from limb. To make their outsides as ugly as here insides. Make them taste the chewy flavor of their intestines.

But Sam would shit a brick if he did that. And so he gave them one last kick each, then headed over to the girl who lay face down in a heap.

He felt like a shit for not catching her. Really, he did. But he wasn't the fucking hero of this story. He was just the sorry sap in the wrong place at the wrong time. He rolled her over gently, taking in her battered face and her strawberry scented hair.

He could see why she'd been targeted. There was barely anything to her. Tiny. Sliding his arms under her as carefully as he could, Paul hoisted her up and cradled her to his chest.

What the fuck was he meant to do with her now?

**End Chapter.**

* * *

God, my eyes burn. Been writing all day to get this uploaded. No glasses, which means I am practically blind. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own. Let me know what you think.


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